Study of stress localisation in polycrystalline grains using self-consistent modelling and neutron diffraction

The time-of-flight neutron diffraction technique and the elastoplastic self-consistent model were used to study the behaviour of single and multi-phase materials. Critical resolved shear stresses and hardening parameters in austenitic and austenitic–ferritic steels were found by analysing the evolution of the lattice strains measured during tensile tests. Special attention was paid to the changes of the grain stresses occurring due to transition from elastic to plastic deformation. Using a new method of data analysis, the variation of the stress localisation tensor as a function of macrostress was measured. The experimental results were successfully compared with model predictions for both phases of the duplex steel and also for the austenitic sample.     

Residual stresses in biaxially fatigued austenitic stainless steel sample of cruciform geometry

A specifically designed cruciform-shaped austenitic stainless steel AISI 321 sample was subjected to ex-situ biaxial tension-compression cycling to establish ferromagnetic martensitic phase conversion under the action of plastic deformation. The time-of-flight neutron diffraction technique was employed for in-plane residual stress determination in this sample for both the austenitic and martensitic phases. The 2D data enabled determination of the macro-, micro-, hydro- and deviatoric contributions to the total phase stresses.     

Effect of Heat Treatment on the Stress-Strain Characteristics of Cd-Sn Eutectic Alloy

Stress-strain curves of slowly cooled and quenched Sn-33wt. alloy were studied in the temperature range from 353 to 433 K. The coefficient of logarithmic work/hardening, the fracture time, the yield stress and the fracture stress of annealed and quenched samples decreased with increasinig deformation temperature and exhibited a minimum at 393 K. The activation energy of the fracture mechanism is found to be 5.4 and 12.8 KJ/mol characterizing a dislocation mechanism for annealed and quenched samples. The X-ray analysis of the slowly cooled and quenched samples showed that the residual internal strains increase in the low temperature relaxation stage and decrease in the second stage.     

Residual stress of physical vapor-deposited polycrystalline multilayers

An extended one-dimensional stress model for the deposition of multilayer films is built based on the existing stress model by considering the influence of deposition conditions. Both thermal stress and intrinsic stress are considered to constitute the final residual stress in the model. The deposition process conditions such as deposition temperature, oxygen pressure, and film growth rate are correlated to the full stress model to analyze the final residual stress distribution, and thus the deformation of the deposited multilayer system under different process conditions. Also, the model is numerically realized with in-house built code. A deposition of Ag-Cu multilayer system is simulated with the as-built extended stress model, and the final residual stresses under different deposition conditions are discussed with part of the results compared with experiment from other literature.     

超临界水冷堆燃料包壳材料的辐照损伤研究进展

超临界水冷堆（SCWR）是第四代核电站的主力堆型之一,高温、高压、超临界水环境下的辐照损伤问题是其燃料包壳材料面临的最大挑战。SCWR燃料包壳候选材料主要包括锆合金、奥氏体不锈钢、铁素体/马氏体不锈钢、镍基合金、ODS合金五大类,奥氏体不锈钢是最有希望的候选材料。介绍了近年来在这个领域国际上的主要研究进展。作者所在团队也对多种SCWR的候选材料进行了辐照损伤研究,包括:镍基合金C-276和718、铁素体/马氏体钢P92、奥氏体不锈钢AL-6XN和HR3C。对AL-6XN的氢离子辐照实验发现,辐照产生的缺陷主要是间隙型位错环,伯格斯矢量为1/3<111>,在较高剂量（5～7 dpa）辐照下,出现空洞肿胀。在氢滞留的影响下,位错环有着独特的演化规律,总结提出了位错环的四阶段演化过程。The Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) is one of the prior Generation IV advanced reactors. Irradiation damage is one of the key issues of fuel cladding materials which will suffer serious environment, such as high temperature, high pressure, high irradiation and supercritical water. The candidate materials contain zirconium alloys, austenitic stainless steels, ferritic/martensitic stainless steels, Ni-base alloys and ODS alloys. Austenitic stainless steels are the most promising materials. This paper summarized the international researches on irradiation effects in fuel cladding materials for SCWR. The group of authors also has done many researches in this field, including nickel-base alloy C-276 and 718, ferritic/martensitic steel P92 and austenitic stainless steel AL-6XN and HR3C. In AL-6XN austenitic stainless steels irradiated by hydrogen ions, dislocation loops were the dominant irradiation defects. At higher irradiation dose (5～7 dpa), the voids were found. All the dislocation loops were confirmed to be 1/3<111> interstitial type dislocation loops, and four evolution stages of dislocation loops with hydrogen retention were suggested.     

Mechanism of recovery of the mechanical properties of neutron-irradiated metals in the course of thermocycling

The mechanism of recovery of the strength and strain characteristics of neutron-irradiated metals and alloys (up to their initial values observed prior to irradiation) during periodic quenching in the temperature range below the irradiation temperature is considered. It is assumed that the removal of radiation-induced defects (interstitial and vacancy loops) from radiation-hardened metals is associated with the formation of defect-free channels along the slip planes (the phenomenon of dislocation channeling) under the thermal stresses arising in each cycle of quenching. The relationships describing both the kinetics of the decrease in the yield strength σ_Y and in the ultimate strength σ_U and the kinetics of the increase in the uniform strain ε_U of a preliminarily irradiated material with increasing number of quenching cycles are derived using the equations of dislocation kinetics. The theoretical results obtained are compared with experimental data on the kinetics of recovery of the mechanical properties of neutron-irradiated samples (the austenitic FeNiCr and ferritic FeCrMo structural steels and the titanium alloy TiAlZr) in the course of periodic quenching.     

Investigation of Plastically Deformed TRIP-Composites by Neutron Diffraction and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Methods

The main parameters of the microstructure of TRIP (TRansformation Induced Plasticity) composites with an austenitic matrix and a ZrO₂ zirconium-dioxide reinforcing phase subjected to plastic deformation of different degrees (compressive uniaxial load) are studied by neutron diffraction and small-angle neutron scattering. A series of composite material samples with different contents of the ZrO₂ ceramic phase (0, 10, 20, 30, and 100 wt %) are prepared by the powder metallurgy method using hot pressing. In the region of plastic deformation at load values above 650 MPa, two phases are observed in the austenitic matrix: cubic α'-martensite and hexagonal ε-martensite. Data on the lattice strains of the observed phases, dislocation density in the austenitic matrix, and characteristic sizes of the martensitic-phase particles are obtained.     

2024铝合金激光多次冲击诱导残余应力状态分布规律

采用高功率激光器多次冲击2024铝合金,用X射线衍射技术分析了冲击区域的残余应力,研究了冲击残余应力状态分布规律,并用其评价激光冲击强化效果。研究表明,随着冲击次数增加,塑变量及塑性应变梯度逐渐减小,测点是双向压应力状态,而4次冲击时,塑性应变梯度增大,光斑中心是单向压应力状态,其他点是双向压应力状态。当激光功率密度为2.8 GW/cm2时,3次冲击强化效果最佳,材料是二向压应力状态,残余最大主应力及应力强度的均值最大,方差最小,分布基本均匀,塑性应变梯度较小。     

Effects of grain size on dislocation organization and internal stresses developed under tensile loading in fcc metals

The relationship between deformation and dislocation properties has been studied for pure polycrystalline nickel and austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L in stage III. Special care was taken to study statistically the effects of the grain size and grain orientation on dislocation densities and distribution. It is shown that the nature of dislocation cells depends on grain size and crystallographic orientation. The dimensional parameters, which depend on grain size, i.e. the inter-boundary spacing (λ) and boundary thickness (e), define three domains of crystallographic orientation and depend on the grain size. Scaling hypotheses reveal two physical mechanisms which, at this level of plastic strain, are correlated to a specific value of the noise, associated with distribution functions. Similarities between structural parameters and dislocation densities in each phase (walls and inter-walls spacing) are identified and discussed in terms of kinetic equations describing dislocation density evolution and fluctuations of certain physical parameters. This similarity provides physical signification of the scaling distribution obtained on λ and e in terms of a stochastic approach to dislocation distribution. The origin of Hall–Petch behaviour observed at large strain is interpreted in terms of an interaction between inter- and intra-granular long-range internal stresses, which depends on grain size. We conclude that, at high strain, the Hall–Petch phenomenological relationship is a consequence of plastic strain history and strain gradient in grains. From this last point, a length scale arises naturally, which depends on stacking fault energy.     

Evaluating the effects of loading parameters on single-crystal slip in tantalum using molecular mechanics

This study is aimed at developing a physics-based crystal plasticity finite element model for body-centred cubic (BCC) metals, through the introduction of atomic-level deformation information from molecular dynamics (MD) investigations of dislocation motion at the onset of plastic flow. In this study, three critical variables governing crystal plasticity mediated by dislocation motion are considered. MD simulations are first performed across a range of finite temperatures up to 600K to quantify the temperature dependence of critical stress required for slip initiation. An important feature of slip in BCC metals is that it is not solely dependent on the Schmid law measure of resolved shear stress, commonly employed in crystal plasticity models. The configuration of a screw dislocation and its subsequent motion is studied under different load orientations to quantify these non-Schmid effects. Finally, the influence of strain rates on thermal activation is studied by inducing higher stresses during activation at higher applied strain rates. Functional dependence of the critical resolved shear stress on temperature, loading orientation and strain rate is determined from the MD simulation results. The functional forms are derived from the thermal activation mechanisms that govern the plastic behaviour and quantification of relevant deformation variables. The resulting physics-based rate-dependent crystal plasticity model is implemented in a crystal plasticity finite element code. Uniaxial simulations reveal orientation-dependent tension–compression asymmetry of yield that more accurately represents single-crystal experimental results than standard models.     

Thermal relaxation behavior of residual stress in laser hardened 17-4PH steel after shot peening treatment

In order to investigate the residual stress relaxations of shot peened layer, isothermal annealing treatments were carried out on tempered and laser hardened 17-4PH steel after shot peening with different temperatures from 300 °C to 600 °C. The results showed that the residual stresses were relaxed in the whole deformation layer especially under higher temperature. The maximum rates of stress relaxation took place at the initial stage of annealing process in all conditions. The relaxation process during isothermal annealing could be described by Zener-Wert-Avrami function. The thermal stability of residual stress in tempered 17-4PH was higher than that in laser hardened 17-4PH as well as that in α-iron, which was due to the pinning effects of ?-Cu precipitates on the dislocation movement. As massive ?-Cu precipitates formed in the temperature about 480 °C, the activation enthalpies for stress relaxation in laser hardened 17-4PH were the same as that in tempered 17-4PH in the conditions of isothermal annealing temperatures of 500 °C and 600 °C.     

TEM investigation of the interaction between dislocation and nitride precipitates in deformed high manganese-chromium austenitic steels

The interaction between dislocations and nitride precipitates during high-temperature creep deformation of high manganese austenitic steels has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Most of the dislocations activated by applied stress were dissociated into Shockley partials. The fine TiN precipitates are pinning and/or incorporating the bow-type moving dislocations and they turned out to be more effective than the coarser TaN in disturbing the dislocation movement.     

Magnetic studies of the dislocation structure of iron single crystals deformed at 295 K

The dislocation density in iron single crystals deformed at 295 K has been studied by measuring the coercive field, the initial susceptibility, the Rayleigh constant, and the reversible susceptibility in the approach to ferromagnetic saturation as functions of the resolved shear stress. The influence of different dislocation types on the saturation susceptibility has been calculated. In this way it is possible to distinguish dislocation structures composed of screw or edge dislocations and to reveal long-range internal stresses, which govern the work-hardening in the deformation stage II/III. The dislocation density increases in stage I linearly and in stage II/III quadraticaly with the resolved shear stress. In stage O mainly isolated screw dislocations are created.     

Investigation of stress relaxation mechanisms for ductility improvement in SS316L

Stress relaxation during plastic deformation has been reported to improve ductility and alter the mechanical properties of metallic materials. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of various mechanisms responsible for this in stainless steel SS 316L. The fractography of the tested samples is analysed using an image analyser and the void fraction at failure is correlated with the corresponding mechanisms. The parametric studies on stress relaxation at different pre-strain and relaxation time correlate well with the fractography results supporting the proposed mechanisms. TEM investigation of dislocation structures and void characterisation further confirm the role of dislocation annihilation. Moreover, a novel indentation technique combining micro- and nano-indentation techniques is used to verify the role of stress homogenisation mechanism.     

Dependence of the nitriding rate of ferritic and austenitic substrates on the crystallographic orientation of surface grains; gaseous nitriding of Fe-Cr and Ni-Ti alloys

Gaseous nitriding of ferritic Fe–Cr and austenitic Ni–Ti solid solutions reveals that the extent of the uptake of dissolved nitrogen depends on the crystallographic orientation of the surface grains of the substrate. In both ferritic and austenitic substrates, the surface nitrogen concentration and the nitriding depth decrease upon increasing the smallest angle between the surface normal and the normal of a {1?0?0} plane of the surface grain considered. This phenomenon could be ascribed to the residual compressive macrostress developed during nitriding which varies as a function of crystallographic orientation of the (surface) grains due to the elastically anisotropic nature of ferrite and austenite solid solutions investigated in this study.     

Kinetics of isochronal austenization in modified high Cr ferritic heat-resistant steel

Employment of high Cr ferritic steels as a main structural material is considered as a way to achieve economical competitiveness of main steam pipe and nuclear reactors in power plants. Differential dilatometry and microstructure observation were employed to investigate the isochronal austenitic transformation of the modified high Cr ferritic steel. The kinetics of the isochronal austenitic transformation were described by a phase-transformation model involving site saturation (pre-existing nuclei), diffusion-controlled growth, and incorporating an impingement correction. The experimental results and kinetic analysis indicate that an increase of the heating rate promotes the diffusion-controlled austenitic transformation. The dissolving degree of precipitates during the austenization process affects the activation energy for diffusion and the undissolved precipitates lead to an increase of the onset temperature of the subsequent martensite transformation upon cooling.     

Instability of interstitial dislocation loops in electron-irradiated dielectrics

The experiments on electron irradiation of yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide samples show the formation of strong elastic fields near interstitial dislocation loops. The fields increase with an increase in the loop radius and, when the loop radius reaches a certain critical value, the loops became unstable due to the beginning of plastic deformation and the formation of a dislocation network. The mechanism of the occurrence of this instability is suggested. It is based on the accumulation of charges at dislocation loops due to ionization processes in an electron-irradiated dielectric. It is shown that the accumulation of the electric charge at growing dislocation loops in dielectrics may be responsible for an increase in elastic stresses near dislocation loops and for their instability because of the beginning of plastic deformation near the loops when stresses at growing loops become close to the theoretical yield stress of the material.     

Elasticity and anelasticity of microcrystalline aluminum samples having various deformation and thermal histories

The effect of the amplitude of vibrational deformation on the elastic modulus and internal friction of microcrystalline aluminum samples produced by equal-channel angular pressing was studied. The samples have various deformation and thermal histories. The elastic and inelastic (microplastic) properties of the samples are investigated. As the degree of plastic deformation increases, the Young’s modulus E, the amplitude-independent decrement δ_i, and the microplastic flow stress σ increase. As the annealing temperature increases, the quantities δ_i and σ decrease noticeably and the modulus E exhibits a more complex behavior. The experimental data are discussed under the assumption that the dislocation mobility depends on both the spectrum of point defects and the internal stresses, whose level is determined by the degree of plastic deformation and the temperature of subsequent annealing. The concept of internal stresses is also used to analyze the data on the effect of the degree of deformation and annealing on the rupture strength of the samples.     

Influence of Ti/TiAlN-multilayer designs on their residual stresses and mechanical properties

In this research work, Ti/TiAlN multilayers of various designs were deposited onto substrates pretreated by different etching procedures. The influence of multilayer design and substrate pretreatment on multilayers adhesion, hardness, wear and friction coefficients was systematically analyzed and correlated with residual stresses of these multilayers as well as with residual stresses on the coating-near substrate region, which were analyzed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction at HZB-BESSYII. These investigations show that the adhesion can be improved by a specific etching procedure, which cause increased compressive stress in the coating-near the substrate region. Additionally, it was found, that the multilayer with the thickest ceramic layers has the highest hardness and the lowest wear coefficients as well as the lowest compressive residual stress within studied multilayers.